10 Perfect Albums That Will Make You Love Alternative Rock

10. Check Your Head - Beastie Boys

So this might seem like a bit of an odd choice to kick off a list involving alternative rock. If you were to listen to the very beginning of the Beastie Boys, these were the kind of hip hop that was supposed to blare out of frat houses until the end of time, with a lot more jock jam energy than alternative rock. Once the Beasties actually got over the '80s, they got a lot more aggro going into the next decade.

After making a more psychedelic take on hip hop with Paul's Boutique, Check Your Head is when the band started to morph into more rock leaning styles, taking the same production that they had in the early days and putting their own songs on the track instead of cut up samples. Although this record has a lot of tracks on it, it almost feels like you're getting a little taste of everything that makes them tick, like the more straightforward hip hop cuts like Pass the Mic or when they go full on rock on Gratitude or So What'cha Want.

Their audience were along for the ride as well, with the frat bros from the days of Licensed to Ill being replaced with the modern skate punk kids who were into the heavier side of what pop music had to offer. The musical ground may have been shifting beneath their feet, but the Beasties were always just going to do their own thing, and this entire record just feels like one big party.